Posts Categorized: Film Friday

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. For today’s Film Friday, I decided to feature one of my favorite films! I adore The English Patient, it’s so full of passion and heartbreak. I haven’t read Michael Ondaatje’s novel and I’m afraid to because I have a feeling it might ruin my love of the film by making me love the book more. Does that make sense? Synopsis:At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair. (-IMDB). Almásy: There is no God, but I hope someone watches over you…. Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. I know there’s a 2002 version of Doctor Zhivago with Keira Knightley as Lara, but I just love the 1965 version with Omar Sharif. Synopsis: The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist’s wife and experiences hardship during the First World War and then the October Revolution. (-IMDB). Komarovski: There are two kinds of men and only two. And that young man is one kind. He is high-minded. He is pure. He’s the kind of man the world pretends to look up to, and in fact despises. He is… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. For today’s Film Friday, I decided to showcase The Godfather! Based on Mario Puzo’s novel (of the same name), the film quickly became a box office hit. Marlon Brando would go on to win an Oscar for Best Actor and the film would become Best Picture. Synopsis: The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son (-IMDB). Don Corleone: You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me? The Godfather (1972)

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. For today’s piece, I picked David Nicholl’s One Day because I just adored the book! The film is a bit of a let down because there’s so much that could have been done to make it better. Though I admit, I liked Jim Sturgess as Dexter. While I adore Romola Garai, I felt she played Sylvie a bit too cold. One Day (2011) Synopsis: After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are shown each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, sometimes not,… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Fifty years ago today, the 35th president of the United States was assassinated. I reviewed Killing Kennedy last week and explained that it is a central Oswald production where there is no conspiracy theory. So today, I bring you the other side with Oliver Stone’s JFK. Oliver Stone’s JFK is a political thriller that follows the events leading up to assassination of JFK and New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison’s (played by Kevin Costner) quest to file charges against Clay Shaw (played Tommy Lee Jones) for his alleged participation in the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. Jim Garrison: The Warren Commission… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. I had a difficult time deciding which Michael Crichton film to feature since his birthday was earlier this week. I’ve decided to feature Jurassic Park. Universal will be filming a fourth movie for a 2015 release date and Steven Spielberg will return as a producer. A billionaire with the help of scientists clone dinosaurs for a theme park. During a park preview the park suffers a power outage and dinosaurs are let lose. Dr. Alan Grant: T-Rex doesn’t want to be fed. He wants to hunt. Can’t just suppress 65 million years of gut instinct. Jurassic Park (1993)

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. I just adore Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. I love the play more than the film and highly recommend seeing it on stage if you ever get a chance. Since Wilde’s birthday was earlier this week and the actors I adored in the stage version were not filmed, I opted for the 2002 film version. Two men in the same social circle both have an alter ego named Ernest, a comedy of mistaken identities soon erupts. Cecily: You must not laugh at me, darling, but it has always been a girlish dream of mine to love a man named… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Author Tom Clancy died earlier this week and I’ve decided to feature The Hunt for Red October. Clancy sold the manuscript to the Naval Institute Press for just $5,000. President Regan raved about the book and Clancy based the book on a real life event: the 1975 mutiny aboard a Soviet missile frigate. The book went on to sell more than 5 million copies. It also features Jack Ryan, Clancy’s most famous character. In 1984, the USSR’s best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Earlier this week it was DH Lawrence’s birthday and what better way to honor the memory of a great British author, than to feature his novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Constance, Lady Chatterley, is an upper-class woman and married. Her husband, Clifford, is very handsome, but has been paralyzed from the waist down due to a war injury. Due to his injury he refuses any physical contact and becomes emotional neglectful of Constance forcing a distance between them. Her sexual frustration leads her into the arms with the gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors, where they embark on a passionate affair. There are several adaptations,… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Earlier this week it was Leo Tolstoy’s birthday and what better way to honor the memory of a great Russian author, than to feature his novel War and Peace. War and Peace is an extensive novel and in this version it focuses on Natasha, Pierre, and Andrei’s complex relationship along the backdrop of the events leading to the Napoleonic invasion. Gen. Kutuzov: The only important battle is the last. War and Peace (1956) Napoleon’s tumultuous relations with Russia including his disastrous 1812 invasion serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Yesterday was Ray Bradbury’s birthday and what better way to honor the memory of a great American author, than to feature his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. Guy Montag: Well, it’s a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That’s our official motto. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) Based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name. Guy Montag is a firefighter who lives in a lonely, isolated society where… Read more »

Have you ever been surprised to find out a film was based on a book? Film Friday is a weekly feature that spotlights films that were adapted from books. Dan Stevens left Downton Abbey to focus on film projects and one of them was actually Summer in February. It’s based on Jonathan Smith’s book and Smith adapted his novel (which bears the same name as the film) into the screenplay. Based on a true story it stars Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning, Dan Stevens and Hattie Morahan and focuses on the early 20th century love triangle between British artist Alfred Munnings, his friend Gilbert Evans and Florence Carter-Wood. Summer in February (2013)